Industrial Training Institutes to Introduce Multi skilling Courses

With the Government aiming at generating ten million job opportunities every year during the 10th Plan, skill development has become an extremely important issue. It is in this backdrop that the 34th Meeting of the National Council for Vocational Training is being held under the Chairmanship of the Labour Minister Dr. Sahib Singh here tomorrow. The Council is an apex tripartite body set up by the Ministry of Labour to advise it on various issues relating to Vocational Training being conducted through Industrial Training Institutes all over the country.

The important issues to be considered by the Council at the Meeting includes introduction of multi-skilling courses by restructuring the existing course curricula of the ITIs to keep pace with the technological changes in the labour market. It is proposed to have a broad based basic training programme common to a group of trades followed by specialised training in one or more employable modules. The Council would also consider reservation of seats for OBC candidates for admission in ITIs at par with reservation available to them for employment in government service in their respective states. It would also consider the report of an Expert Group regarding fully utilising three per cent of seats reserved for the people with disability.

The Labour Ministry has already launched a special drive for expansion of vocational training facilities by way of setting up new ITIs and also utilising necessary infrastructure facilities in existing institutes by starting second shift for trainees.

PM Calls for Action plan to boost Indian SCience

CSIR AWARD FOR INNOVATION BY SCHOOL CHILDREN

‘Strengthen the contribution of Indian science and technology in India’s self-reliant march towards sustainable development’, this is the message the Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee gave to CSIR and the scientific community in general, while giving away the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Awards 2001, at a function organised by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, here today. The Minister for Human Resource Development and Science and Technology Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi presided. In all, 10 top scientists received the awards, in various disciplines.

Urging Dr. Joshi to soon devise an action plan to promote excellence in Indian science, the Prime Minister wanted the heads of scientific establishments like CSIR, ICAR, ICMR, DRDO, IISc, IITs, Universities etc. to provide a stronger and more focussed leadership to this effort. Vajpayee also asked the CSIR to take up a study on the impact of the work of Bhatnagar awardees on global science and technology. He underscored the need for a productivity-led growth strategy with greater inputs of science and technology than before in every sphere of economic activity in the country – both modern and traditional. Some of the areas identified by the Prime Minister that urgently needs reliable S&T inputs include, cost-effective conservation and recycling of water, dry-land farming, more accurate weather prediction and enhancing energy availability. These require necessary policy and administrative initiatives by the Central and State governments, the PM said.

Congratulating the awardees, Dr. Joshi said that the government would have a serious look at the weaknesses in the educational system, especially relating to basic science and research, in the light of our inability to produce the requisite best, innovative and creative minds. Despite several initiatives like attractive fellowships and remunerative packages / awards, students taking up science as career has been declining. What is causing concern is the unavailability of required number of eligible students and researchers to win these awards and fellowships.

Expressing dissatisfaction particularly over the paucity of best brains for the prestigious Swarna Jayanti and CSIR junior research fellowships, Dr. Joshi said that about 30,000 students compete every year for these 1000 and odd fellowships and most of these go abegging, because the applicants fail to qualify the stringent evaluation tests. Government, he said, will keep on taking initiatives to reward and upgrade the system but definitely not at the cost of quality at the highest level. Suggesting that a renewed spirit of creativity must be infused in our children, the minister announced the institution of a CSIR Diamond Jubilee Award for Innovation by school children. This will be a national initiative, he said.

The recipients of the Bhatnagar awards are Dr. Amitabha Chattopadhyay, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad and Dr. Umesh Varshney, Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore both in Biological Sciences; Dr. T.K. Chandrashekar, Department of Chemistry, IIT Kanpur, and Dr. Uday Maitra, Department of Organic Chemistry, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, both Chemical Sciences; Dr. Prashant Goswami, CSIR Centre for Mathematical Modelling and Computer Simulation, Bangalore and Dr. Koluru Sree Krishna, National Institute of Oceanography, Goa both in Earth, Atmosphere, Ocean and Planetary Sciences; Dr. Gadadhar Misra, Indian Statistical Institute, Bangalore and Dr. T.N. Venkataramana, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai in Mathematical Sciences; Dr. Birendra Nath Mallick, School of Life Sciences, JNU, New Delhi Medical Sciences; and Dr. Rahul Pandit, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore in Physical Sciences. No one was found eligible for the prize in Engineering Sciences.

New Commissioner of Security Appointed.

The Government has approved the appointment of Tushar Kanti Mitra, IPS (WB:68), Director, Special Protection Group as Commissioner of Security (Civil Aviation), Bureau of Civil Aviation Security on deputation basis upto November 11, 2004 or until further orders, whichever is earlier.

Investments of non-resident Malayalees t o be channelized for de velopment

Minister for NORKA, Mr.M.M.Hassan stated that Kerala can attain development only through properly diverting the investments made by Malayalees working abroad. It is estimated that about Rs.24,000 crore belonging to non-resident Malayalees reach Kerala and there is need for effective cooperation from Malayalees living abroad for the overall development of the state. The minister made this appeal while inaugurating the third World Malayalee Meet at Dingdon in Germany.

The minister added that the State Government can assure that these investments are properly utilized for the betterment of the people and the state. “A comprehensive development is what the state government is aiming at this stage and for this, those in charge of governance and those being governed should get ready to undergo necessary changes. The time has also reached for all political parties and trade unions to say ‘no’ to hartal and general strikes and also to unite and defeat the forces that act against the aspirations of the state in its developmental path,” the minister added.

The Minster for Education, Mr Nalakath Soopy, who attended the function said that the State had undergone tremendous changes in the education sector and has already launched many new courses in collaboration with renowned foreign universities.

An array of dignitaries viz. the President of World Malayalee Council Mr.Andrew Papachan, German Province President Mr. Mathew Jacob, Global Vice Chairman Mr.Joy Parambettu, New Jersey Westwood Councilor Mr.George James, World Malayalee Council General Secretary Mr.Gopala Pillai, Middle East region chairman Mr.C.K.Sebastian, Bahrain region president Mr.C.K.Baby addressed the meet.

Participation of non-resident Malayalees vital for village development

For developing the villages of Kerala a programme called ‘My Village My Dream’ has been formulated, aiming for the participation of non-resident malayalees. This was stated by the Minister Mr.M.M.Hassan while inaugurating ‘Samavayam 2002’ held under the auspices of World Malayalee Council and NORKA at Dingdon in Germany.

The project ‘Ente Gramam, Ente Swapnam’ aims to adopt villages in the state to develop or renovate basic amenities like schools, hospitals, roads and ponds. A preliminary survey in this regard will soon be undertaken by NORKA. The project will be implemented with the financial aid of non-resident malayalees through NORKA’s field agency ROOTS-NRK Development Initiative.

In order to generate a genuine interest among the new generation of non-resident malayalees towards Malayalam language a programme called ‘Ente Malayalam, Ente Abhimanam’ (My Language, My Pride) has been conceived. As part of the programme CD ROMs enabling to practice and speak Malayalam along with audio cassettes of renowned literary creations will be prepared. There is also a plan to identify children abroad who are performing well and to give them encouragement through the Internet.

Mr.Hassan also said that an open school examination system would be implemented to help those who would become unemployed just because of not being able to complete their matriculation. The Minister for education Mr.Nalakathu Soopi, U.D.F. Convenor Mr.Oommen Chandi, the Indian Ambassador to Austria Mr.T.P.Sreenivasan and the NORKA secretary Mr.Jiji Thomson also addressed the gathering. The Secretary (NORKA) stated that the next Samavayam would be held in U.A.E

The General Convener of World Malayalee Council who sponsored Samavayam Mr.Joli Thadathil stated that as a result of the deliberations held during the World Malayalee Meet, the possibility of foreign investments worth Rs 1000 crore in Kerala is assured. A total of 10 MoUs have been signed in this regard. Mr. Joli Thadathil also stated that if the state government grants permission, then universities in the private sector can be established in the state.(NORKA)

President to open national Judicial academy

The President, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, will dedicate to the nation the National Judicial Academy on September 5, 2002 at Bhopal at a function to be presided over by the Chief Justice of India, Justice B.N. Kirpal with the Union Minister of Law and Justice K. Jana Krishnamurthi and the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Digvijay Singh to be present, among others, on the occasion.

Built at an estimated cost of Rs. 80 crore, the National Judicial Academy has been set up by the Government of India to provide in-service training to judicial officers of States, Union Territories and Ministerial officers working in the Supreme Court of India and the High Courts. The Academy will function as a centre of excellence in court management.

The Academy is registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 with its registered head office in Delhi and located at Bhopal, the capital of Madhya Pradesh. The Academy is managed by a Governing Council, chaired by the Chief Justice of India. The other members of the Council are, two other judges of the Supreme Court, Secretaries to the Government of India in the Department of Justice, Department of Legal Affairs and Department of Expenditure. The Registrar General of the Supreme Court of India is the Member-Secretary of the Council. Besides, the General Body of the Academy includes Chief Justice of a High Court, one judge of another High Court and two law academics. The members of the Governing Council of the Academy including its Chairman will be ex-officio members of the General Body.

The Academy will become fully functional by December 2002. It has so far utilized Rs. 78.96 crore of the estimated cost of Rs. 80 crore.

It will function as a national clearing house of information in the judicial arena and set standards of excellence in the justice delivery system by sensitizing presiding officers and judges on all issues germane to judiciary including gender issues.

The Academy, before becoming fully functional, has already imparted training to several judicial officers from 13 High Courts in London besides imparting training to 835 judicial officers in the matters concerned with cases of gender laws. They were also sensitized on effective practice and procedures to be followed by them during the trial of rape and other sexual abuse cases with a further instruction to disseminate their experience gained among companion judges.

Artists to paint different moods of Himalayas

To celebrate the years of ‘MOUNTAINS AND ECO TOURISM’, Department of Tourism, Government of India and Uttaranchal Government have organised an artists camp at Ananda and Chamba, Uttaranchal from September 7 to 13, 2002. Eminent artists from various parts of the country will participate in the camp and paint their perceptions about mountains and various moods of Himalayas.

Artists participating in the camp are- Shamshad Hussain, Amitava Das, Subrata Kundu, Gopi Gajwani, Anupam Sud, Prof. Rajeev Lochan, Jatin Das, Shalina Vichitra, Yusuf Arakkal (Bangalore), Harshawardhan Swaminathan, Vaikuntham (Hyderabad), Rinnie Dhumal (Vadodara), Apurva Desai (Ahemeddabad), Jairam Patel (Vadodara), Manisha Gera Baswani, Jaishree Chakravorthy (Kolkata), Sunil Das (Kolkata), Arpana Caur.Later the work of artists will be exhibited in various cities.